Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Webnesday - Kung Fu 2

So this week I went ahead and tried a few games out to see if anything would catch my attention enough to write about it. Sure enough, someone out there knew that the fastest way to my heart is with old-school punches and kicks. Oh, and Mr. X, of course.Kung Fu 2 is essentially an update/remake of the NES/Arcade classic, Kung Fu (Master). The goal and gameplay hasn't really changed much. Sylvia's gotten herself kidnapped by Mr. X and you get to mash punch and kick a lot to fend off goons, Tom-Toms (the annoying little guys), knife throwers, and the like. Once you get to the first boss, however, you realize that things aren't EXACTLY the same, as instead of the guy with a stick you face some ninja girl with a huge sword. Oh, and then you earn a hadoken. Seriously, after that first stage you can throw fireballs by hitting down+right+punch. And then you earn a hurricane kick and a shoryuken, all of which use a new energy meter beneath your lifebar.

The game looks and feels like a lost SNES game (well, with a lot of blood, that is). Not surprising, considering it was a first place entry in a contest at retroremakes.com and was made to capture the feel of the good ol' days. The game also comes with controller options for those of you who can't stand the keyboard (i.e. me). Anyone who enjoyed the original Kung Fu on the NES should check this one out. The balance isn't the same as the NES classic, as stages feel a little short and some attacks don't exactly seem avoidable at all, but the fun is still there and that's what matters.

Your Host For This Evening

Twenty-something white guy with a loving wife and a withdrawal-prone addiction to yelling at the screen whenever he's got a controller in his hands. If you see him on XBox Live under "Shin Hogosha", he's either playing a downloadable game or watching something via Netflx.